Kelley Missal – The Crossing

By starrymag | April 9, 2018

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) Please tell us the premise for the show “The Crossing” and about your character Hannah.

A) “The Crossing” is a new ABC sci-fi mystery drama. The story starts with hundreds of people who wash up on shore of a small costal town in Oregon.  The forty-seven survivors claim to be seeking asylum, refugees not from another country, but from another time- a war torn future of the United States where the next evolution of human “Apex” is rising to power and killing them off. I play Hannah, one of the refugees from the future. Her sweet exterior masks her gritty survival story.

 

Q) What made you want to be a part of the series?

A) When I read the pilot, I was really intrigued and inspired by the different concepts woven into the script. It’s reflective of our current political, social, and even environmental climate…There’s refugee crisis, complete social imbalance, human genetic engineering, ethnic cleansing in a way, what the future could potentially look like in a hundred and fifty years. I found the story to be compelling and grounded in the characters and their experiences in these extraordinary situations.  The local police force, the federal agencies, this small town, the refugees who have fled and crash landed here, and all of these groups’ intentions on what to do about it. There’s a lot to explore.

 

Q) Was there anything you added to Hannah that may not have been in the original breakdown for the role?

A) The original breakdown explained Hannah as a teen with a lot of grit and defiance. I think I decided from the pilot episode she was much more vulnerable in this situation. As we shot more episodes more was revealed about Hannah, what her future had looked like, and what it meant for her to have survived. Everyone wants to reinvent themselves and their lives. I’ve definitely personally felt that way at times. But sometimes the past, or future in this case, can’t be forgotten and erased.

 

Q) What have you found challenging about your portrayal?

A) Shooting in Vancouver was really cold, but equally rewarding. Most of the series is shot outdoors and we had the luxury of using beautiful Canada as our backdrop. Not so luxurious for crew and wardrobe, they were quite literally life savers.

 

Q) Your costar Grant Harvey mentioned that there was a love triangle between Hannah, Marshall and Roy. What is it about each guy that attracts her and makes it difficult to select just one?

A) Hannah and Roy meet right after the refugees are rescued. She’s curious and talkative, he’s cute and also an immigration officer. In the original breakdown for Hannah it alluded to her possibly wanting to get information out of him, but shooting the pilot felt more like she genuinely wanted to befriend him and they have this chemistry right away. He’s a young ambitious by-the-books officer and she’s this girl with a “no rules when it comes to survival” kind of era who wants to feel safe.

Marshall (Tommy Bastow) on the other hand is a troubled local from Port Canaan. When Hannah meets him she’s convinced it was by fate and that there is a very real purpose for him and for her together. She’s also kind getting a taste of what it’s like to be seen as a ‘normal’ girl to him, something she’s out of her element in, but the secrecy surrounding the arrival in his town shapes their relationship. All three of them get involved in each other’s lives amongst phenomenal and trying circumstances.

 

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from filming “The Crossing?”

A) I’d probably say it was when we filmed the pilot. We shot in Tofino on Vancouver Island and I went whale watching the morning after a long night shoot. I saw like twelve grey whales.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the show that will make it a fast fan favorite?

A) I think there’s a moral ambiguity when you meet these characters who all have their own predisposed pasts and futures. The mysteries will be revealed week to week with what these refugees intend to do here in the present and what the local and federal agencies intend to do about it. You also learn more about these next evolution “Apex” population who are genetically modified to have enhanced mental and physical traits, what their intentions were for mankind and what went amiss. Our imagination ran wild with these characters and this story of what the future could possibly hold, while also posing important questions and reflections of what life looks like now. I hope that the series does that for people.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you will be receiving to the episodes?

A) Yes! it’s always nerve racking to immediately hear reactions, but we want to know what you think!

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work? 

A) Thank you always for being supportive of me and the projects I get to be a part of. and I hope you like the crossing!